


a place in the sky

by thirixm



Category: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Ender's Game - All Media Types
Genre: First Kiss, M/M, before i write some more stuff between them, i didnt intend for this to be a ship honestly, set some time after Speaker for the Dead, thought i'd test it out to see where it goes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-05
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-18 08:34:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29855403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thirixm/pseuds/thirixm
Summary: “Come back one day,” said Ender, “and speak for me.”
Relationships: The Doctor (Doctor Who) & Ender Wiggin, The Doctor/Ender Wiggin
Kudos: 1





	a place in the sky

“Man among the stars,” said the Doctor.

“Yourself or me?” asked Ender. He watched the Doctor’s hands ghost the tall grama grass growing along the riverbank. He looked to not care so much about getting his shoes muddy, but Ender still had half a mind to not let him slip into the shallow currents.

The Doctor gave him an amused glance. “Both, why not? Look at us.”

“I can only see you.” But they were no different from each other, really. Ender only knew such because they had the same conversation every time he decided to visit. “You were once a rough looking man with a buzzcut who wore nothing but leather jackets.” And Ender, but a child, tasked with the burden of carrying the egg of a hive queen around him for decades until he found a suitable planet.

“You should come with me, out to the stars across time and space,” said the Doctor. He’s never proposed him with the idea, nor has Ender ever thought to ask. He always came alone, he never thought he’d be looking for another companion.

Ender still pondered the prospect of it. He watched the reflections bend to the water’s movements and he wondered if the stories he heard of his late companions were worth repeating. You and I, Ender thought, are not so alike in that way. The bringer of death to every soul you touch, but not me. I’m the one who has to speak for them.

“Do you like it here?” The Doctor seemed to have understood his silence, but perhaps misread it as rejection.

“Yes,” he said. “But it isn’t Lusitania keeping me here, Doctor. I love my sister. And before you suggest bringing her with me, she loves her family more than anything else in the universe. We’ve watched a million stars die and be reborn, what will it be if we miss a million more?”

Then he understood. Truly understood, because he was always the one to look over trivial things such as family. We aren’t alike, thought Ender again. We aren’t, anymore. The Doctor understood this, too. He smiled. He didn’t argue with Ender because he was still stubborn as he was the day they first met.

“You might not see me again for some time,” said the Doctor. “I may not see you until you’re quite old.” His lips strained against a frown.

“Let it be so,” said Ender, stroking the ends of his hair back, until his lips ghosted the Doctor’s cheek. “I’m no immortal like you.”

“Three thousand years,” reminded the Doctor. He felt Ender smile against his skin and kissed his cheek. “Come with me,” he urged. “And I’ll bring you right back, in this exact spot.” His hand squeezed the back of his neck, felt Ender’s shudder ripple through his spine.

“It’s best you go,” said Ender. Unspoken, he said, you better go for the both of us. For a moment, the Doctor wanted to test his patience and see how far he could go until Ender caved. That would be selfish of him, however, but at times, he could be a very selfish being, but Ender was also perceptive to his games.

The Doctor, instead, gently grasped a fist full of hair and dragged Ender in for a desperate kiss. It was messy and uncoordinated, but Ender still wrapped him in close until they could no longer stay connected to each other. For a brief period, Ender thought of convincing the Doctor to stay on Lusitania with him instead, but the idea in itself was ludicrous. Neither would leave their lives to accommodate for the other. They could never do it.

“Come back one day,” said Ender, “and speak for me.”

The Doctor didn’t want to come back, was the problem, but he knew he would have to. He couldn’t keep away from the planet that’s called to him many times. “I would have to be five decades late, then.”

“Keep a watch.”

The demand, simple and dry in humour, made the Doctor chuckle into the mess of his hair. Then, when the sky grew dark, they bid their farewells with longing touches and gentle kisses. If they were never going to see each other again, they were sure to make this last. And when the TARDIS vanished into the air, Ender was left in the darkness, alone, wondering which stars belonged to the Doctor.


End file.
